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Newsdesk 2018
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 536 25th October 2018
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: sandsrowland@btinternet.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
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* Ranelagh women place 6th in the opening Surrey XC League race, men place
8th
* Gill Sanders and Anthony Haynes lead our teams
* Carl Selya-Hammer and Adrienne Baddeley lead our contingent in the
Cabbage Patch 10
* Chris Owens wins M65 bronze in the Surrey Masters Championships
* Ranelagh women finish 13th in the South of England Cross-Country Relays
* Sub-3 marathons by Al Whatmough and James Whistler
* Frances Ratchford is appointed Chairman of Surrey County AA
* All runners needed for our first mob match – Sunday morning 4th November
in Epping Forest
* Book for our Christmas party on December 8th
* Marshals and officials needed for our home races
* 40% off club kit – buy now!
ATTENTION PLEASE
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NEXT JOB FOR THE MOB
Sunday 4th November sees our first mob match of the season. We’re away to
Orion Harriers on many people’s favourite course through a beautiful
autumnal Epping Forest. PLEASE NOTE that Orion have been obliged to move the
race to Sunday morning 4th November rather than the originally scheduled
Saturday afternoon. As ever with mob matches we need as many runners as we
can get if we’re to have a chance of retaining the Harold Lee Cup. Everyone
is welcome, male or female, young or old. Register on the day. Start time is
11am, the course is 7.5 miles. Venue here:.
The Orion clubhouse is in Bury Road, Chingford, with plenty of parking
available further down Bury Road on Chingford Plain. Chingford station is a
short walk away.
CHRISTMAS PARTY
Our Christmas do will take place on Saturday 8th December from 6.30pm to
midnight at the Lass O’Richmond Hill pub on Queens Road, Richmond. Tickets
are £45 to include a three-course meal and DJ. Book with Lexi Godfrey at
lexigod@mac.com or by text to 07758004863. The Christmas Feast menu
is here:. Please state your choices when you book. There are several ways to pay:
by cheque payable to Ranelagh Harriers; by cash to Lexi at the clubhouse on
a training evening; or by BACS transfer (account name Ranelagh Harriers,
account number 12154501, sort code 401310, Ref Xmas + your name.
GREEN BELT RELAY 2019
Suzy Whatmough writes:
“Ranelagh have entered three teams for next year's Green Belt Relay, taking
place on the 18th - 19th May. It’s a 22 stage relay race around 220 miles of
the Green Belt around the outside of London. We have a men’s, women’s and
mixed team entered. Due to the popularity of the event, spaces have already
been filled for the teams. However, do email Suzy Whatmough and Clare Fowler
at mailto:ranelaghgbr@gmail.com if you’d like to be added to the waiting
list, as there are bound to be a few drop-outs / injuries! For more info
about the race, see www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk/.”
CONGRATULATIONS…
…to Frances Ratchford who has been appointed Chairman of Surrey County AA.
PIRIE 10 miles
We have been invited to take part in South London Harriers’ 10 miles
cross-country event in memory of one of their former members the great
Gordon Pirie, world record holder back in the 1950s. The race takes place on
Sunday 2nd December starting at 10am on Farthing Downs, Coulsdon. For anyone
interested you can find further details here:.
CLUB KIT – BUY NOW!
We’re changing kit suppliers and we have a lot of kit to move. Many items
are on offer at 40% discount. Treat yourself and take advantage of these
prices! Order direct from the AlleyCatz website here:.
NOTIFICATION
Our membership application form asks for details of someone - a relative or
friend - to be contacted in the event of your having an accident or being
taken ill at the club. If you think those details might now be out of date
please let us know.
TUESDAY NIGHT SOCIALS
Don’t forget that we meet for a casual drink after training on the first
Tuesday of each month. Venue is upstairs at the Roebuck on Richmond Hill.
All welcome.
THURSDAY NIGHT TRACK TRAINING AT OSTERLEY
The club is continuing to subsidise track sessions on Thursday evenings at
the Osterley track. All groups and all abilities are welcome. The sessions
are every Thursday 7.30-8.30pm. Link to the map is here:
FACEBOOK
Follow Ranelagh on Facebook.
WHAT'S COMING
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More details of the following from the men's Captains ranelagh.men@gmail.com
or the women's Captain / Team Manager ranelagh.women@gmail.com
Sunday 4th November Lee Cup Mob Match v Orion Harriers in Epping
Forest. 7.5 miles, 11am start. Please come along, all needed! See above
Saturday 10th November Surrey Ladies League race 2 in Nonsuch Park. Juniors
from 12 noon, seniors at 1pm.
Saturday 10th November Men’s Surrey League race 2 on Wimbledon Common.
Juniors at 2.30pm, seniors at 3pm.
Saturday 17th November London Cross-Country Championships at Parliament
Hill. Women 6km at 1.15pm, men 10km at 2pm.
Saturday 24th November Mob Match v Thames Hare & Hounds at home in Richmond
Park. 7.5 miles, 2.30pm start. Includes club veterans championships.
5km parkruns every Saturday at 9am and 2km junior parkruns weekly or monthly
on Sundays.
Venues, more details and registration at www.parkrun.com or
www.parkrun.org.uk/events/juniorevents/.
WHAT’S HAPPENED
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SURREY LADIES CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 13th October on
Wimbledon Common
In the first League race of the season it was good to see Gill Sanders back
in action over the country. On a dry and fast Wimbledon Common course Gill
was with the leading group until the final kilometre when she had to give
best to Belgrave’s Ethiopian Saron Haileselase. Gill hung on for a fine
second place. Cordelia Parker backed up well with a top ten finish and the
scoring five was completed by Suzy Whatmough, Becky Curtis-Hall and Fanny
Vein. Team-wise they continued where they left off last year with a solid
6th place. And as for the B team – they finished 6th too. Sarah Palmer in
her League debut, led the B's, pursued by Alice Forbes, Marie Synnott-Wells,
Clare Fowler and Becky Northmore. Six more RH featured amongst the 234
finishers in the Division 1 race.
Emily Coulson was our only representative in the junior events, and she
finished an excellent 11th in the under 17s.
SURREY CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE Saturday 13th October in Richmond Park
Phil Killingley reports:
“The mercury hit 24C and the ground was sizzling as the Surrey League Div 1
pounded towards Pen Ponds and climbed a dusty Queens Ride. With Guildford
and Godalming - one of the two promoted teams - looking awesomely strong in
pre-season fixtures, the onus was on Ranelagh to get their game together to
avoid the relegation spots 8 and 9.
Anthony Haynes missed most of the summer triathlon season but it didn’t seem
to affect him as he started hard and finished hard for 9th place. This
league is looking punchy these days and George Howard’s 43rd was an
astoundingly good effort: worth a top 30 in slower times. He will gloat over
his captain’s scalp - a minute behind in 62nd. Oli Murphy and Ross
MacDonald were late additions to the team list and very welcome ones with
their well-paced runs. They were followed by Ian Kenton who wilted in the
late stages but was a respectable 84th, just staving off Ranelagh’s fastest
ever V50 half marathoner - Peter Haarer - who was recovering still from his
efforts in Oxford six days earlier. The A team was rounded off by Graham
Brook (proving that sleep is over-rated), Ted Mockett (thanks for postponing
that trip to Center Parcs) and anchorman Rich Kimber. The team ended up in
a lowly eighth place - relegation fodder - despite some very strong
performances. But come mud and colder weather we might be able to sort
ourselves out. We’re only 40ish points away from SLH. Hercules are a good
tip for the title this year - they won this fixture from Kent by 30 points.
Perhaps the surprise of the day was Marco Perinelli (a fellow parent at his
captain's son's nursery) who came from nowhere to seize 1st B team place,
only seconds behind the A team anchorman. He was ably backed up by Al
Morgan, Dave Lawley, Chris Bundhun, Al Whatmough, a fast improving Tom
Cameron, Nick Twomey, Alex Fordham, Ed Forbes and John Shaw. Ed and John
were both feeling their way back after injury and performed well in what
apparently felt like a mob match against Striders of Croydon. John didn't
know he was even in a B race until informed volubly by Trevor Maguire of the
fact. He collects the B team anchorman trophy which looks in a lot better
shape than the A team’s. Gordon Whitson had smelled B team glory but on the
day a few unexpected appearances denied him and Paul Doyle. The B team again
showed the A team how to do it, with a creditable 6th place, despite the A
team ‘borrowing’ some of their regulars. They have places 3, 4 and 5 in
their sights.
Possibly the greatest performance of all was that of race organisers Andy
Bickerstaff and his team, with Rob Curtis leading the results with support
from Amrut Sharma. Both races have ballooned in numbers but despite that the
organisation and results taking went entirely without hitch. It’s easy to
take it for granted that these races just happen, without stopping to think
about the hours of effort that volunteers put in to make them go ahead. I
for one am most grateful! Also to our ever-present team manager Alan Hedger
who covered the Ranelagh side admirably.
Tables for teams, and individual results, as well as age graded tables, are
on the http://surreyleague.org website. George Howard scored an astonishing
84.0% - nearly 3 percentage points higher than his previous xc best. George
was 5th over 40 to finish, Peter Haarer was 3rd Over 50 and Gordon Whitson
was 4th over 60.
And finally, relive the race with this excellent drone footage from an
injured and bored Kent AC runner:-
Start
Lap 1
Lap 2
Phil Sesemann Winning
Finish
In his debut for the club Felix Allen ran well to finish in the top half of
the field in the U13s race, and then provided very vocal support for the
senior team!
CABBAGE PATCH 10 miles Sunday 14th October at Twickenham
The Cabbage Patch remains one of the most popular road races in the area.
Over 1,400 finished despite a high number of no-shows owing to the entries
closing months in advance. 46 of the finishers were from Ranelagh, led by
Carl Selya-Hammer in 15th spot just outside 58 minutes. James Riley and Al
Whatmough followed him home inside the hour. Adrienne Baddeley ran
exceptionally well to finish 5th in the women’s race with a time of 67.02
SURREY MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 20th October in
Richmond Park
Another bright sunny and warm Saturday afternoon greeted the competitors in
the Surrey Masters – or Veterans if you prefer. As usual we hosted the event
while Surrey Athletics provided the officials and took care of the entries
and results. Our own entry was quite depleted, barely reaching double
figures. Opportunities to get amongst the medals were therefore few, and our
hopes for a team place rested mainly on our Over 60 trio of Chris Owens,
Gordon Whitson and Rob Wise. Alas, they just missed out in 4th place, though
Chris did succeed in taking home the individual M65 bronze. Gordon was one
place behind. Our best performances otherwise came from Bonnie and Al
Morgan, who were 7th W40 and 6th M40 respectively.
Women 3.8 miles
1 Gina Galbraith (HW) 23.38 (1st W40)
51 Bonnie Morgan (Rane) 27.55 (7th W40)
110 Carol Aikin 32.09 (13th W50)
Men Over 60 3.8 miles
1 John Foss (SLH) 23.38 (1st M60)
26 Chris Owens (Rane) 26.01 (3rd M65)
29 Gordon Whitson 26.25 (4th M65)
42 Rob Wise 27.19 (14th M60)
M60 teams (3 to score)
1 South London H 7
4 Ranelagh H 43
Men 40-59 5.64 miles
1 Martin Shore (TH&H) 31.14 (1st M40)
12 Alyn Morgan (Rane) 34.28 (6th M40)
23 Kris Davidson 35.26 (12th M40)
37 Paul Doyle 36.58 (14th M50)
58 Stewart Anderson 38.50 (21st M50)
70 William Griffin 40.04 (25th M50)
77 Marcus Atkins 41.14 (13th M55)
M50 teams (3 to score)
1 South London H 20
7 Ranelagh H 75
SOUTH OF ENGLAND CROSS-COUNTRY RELAYS Saturday 20th October at Wormwood
Scrubs
The delightful surroundings of Wormwood Scrubs were once again the venue for
the South of England Relays. We contested only the women’s race, with one
official A team and one non-scoring B team. Becky Curtis-Hall led out for
the As and brought us home well placed in 17th place out of 40+ starters.
Marie Synnott-Wells maintained 17th place, setting it up for Suzy Whatmough
to gain four places on the anchor. The unofficial Bs - Becky Northmore,
Marianne Malam and Niamh Holt – were placed in the 20s after two stages.
1 Wycombe Phoenix H&AC 34.48
13 Ranelagh Harriers (A) 38.46
Becky Curtis-Hall 17 12.42
Marie Synnott-Wells 17 13.46
Suzy Whatmough 13 12.18
n/s Ranelagh Harriers (B) 43.47
Rebecca Northmore 24 13.55
Marianne Malam 24 14.32 (n/s)
Niamh Holt n/s 15.20
JUNGFRAU MARATHON Saturday 8th September at Interlaken, Switzerland
Ben Shore reports:
“On a beautiful sunny morning at the beginning of September, I ran (and
walked) the Jungfrau marathon, starting in the Swiss town of Interlaken and
ending an epic 2400 metres up the iconic Jungfrau mountain - just beneath
the north face of the Eiger.
I had travelled to Switzerland with two friends from my days as an English
language assistant in Japan. They were both in good shape and aiming for sub
5 hours. My training had been poor and I had spent most of August agonising
about whether I could even complete the course. But a few semi-successful
long runs had sown a seed of confidence that it might be possible. The route
climbs gently for 25kms, then ascends for 1400m in 17kms. Some of the climb
is runnable, other sections involve scrambling on rock.
My training had been so poor, I decided to run-walk the whole thing. This
turned out well, at least initially. The first 25kms were a pure joy and I
was accelerating all the way from Interlaken, through the beautiful
waterfall-filled valley of Lauterbrunnen where the real ascent begins. 2
hours 20 mins to 25k. ‘I might go under 5 hours here’ I thought. How naive.
After 25k, the course enters a series of lung-bustingly steep switchbacks
climbing for 5kms to the ski resort of Wengen. The switchbacks nearly broke
me. I could hardly walk, let alone run. A depressing collision with reality.
My desperate efforts to get some distance in the final 6 weeks of training
meant I had done no threshold work. I simply had no puff.
But I made it, somehow, to Wengen, where the views across the Lauterbrunnen
valley were so beautiful my mood lifted. This was 32k and I had been
running for 3.5 hours. Not much longer I thought! Only 10k...how long can it
take? Turns out, 10k can take a long time walking up a mountain. I passed
glaciers, heard endless cow bells (nice at first, murder-inducing after 5
hours) and was served hot bouillon soup along the way. The highlight was a
troupe of traditional Swiss horn players at 39k. The sound is a stirring
single note, like a call to battle. And despite extreme fatigue, I knew then
I'd make it.
As ever with a marathon, the final kms are the most vivid in memory. At 40k
we had to run over a thin narrow path of shale, just a few feet from a sheer
drop. By this point I was stopping every 30 seconds to catch my breath. And
then a left turn, and what's this? People are running again, and there is
cheering. I had assumed it would be a crucifying climb right to the end, but
no. I scrambled through a narrow crack in a ridge, was handed a piece of
chocolate by one of the brilliant volunteers and saw a downhill(!) tarmac
path ahead. Eyes now welling up, I tried to run but could only make it 30
seconds at a time. And then round a small lake and finally the finish line
in sight.
When I crossed the finish, I sat in a wet bog, with no other space
available. My time was atrocious: 5 hours 50 minutes. I hadn't been fit
enough. And despite what many runners have said about the Jungfrau , even
the scenery didn't compensate completely. A failure is a failure. And yet, I
enjoyed the experience and felt a thrill to be running a long distance
again. As I've reflected since, I've begun to feel an enthusiasm about
running, after years of slog. Perhaps that's the gift of the Jungfrau. That,
and the sausage and beer at the end.”
BERLIN MARATHON Sunday 16th September
One more RH in Berlin:
7508 Liam Griffin 3:37.25
GOODWOOD FESTIVAL HALF MARATHON Sunday 14th October
1 J Baker (Chich) 1:14.15
7 Duncan Mallison 1:27.02
ROYAL PARKS HALF MARATHON Sunday 14th October in Hyde Park
1 S Farah (N&EB) 1:10.52
12 Carl Assmundson 1:15.54
92 Kris Davidson 1:23.23
141 Andrew Kew 1:24.56
SECOND SUNDAY 5 miles Sunday 14th October on Wimbledon Common
1 H Waring (Milo) 33.07
21 Steve Aikin 39.45
RICHMOND AUTUMN RIVERSIDE 10km Saturday 20th October
1 W Cook (unatt) 36.22
84 Emma Wellham 49.47
ABINGDON MARATHON Sunday 21st October
1 M Bialagonski (Bristol) 2:26.56
22 Allan Whatmough 2:47.55
CHELMSFORD MARATHON Sunday 21st October
1 S Jackson (Elvert) 2:34.17
19 James Whistler 2:59.28
parkrun results...
Follow this link for the latest Ranelagh results:. Then follow
the “Previously” link at the bottom of the parkrun screen to access previous
weeks’ results.
FINALLY...
Eton College Steeplechase 1929:
Video:
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